Francis jefferson french



2 Sheets--Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

F. J. FRENCH.

CLOTHES D-RIER.

Patented Jan. 8, 1889.

@mW/Lewes.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

P JfRENGH.

(No Model.)

CLOTHES lDRIBR. NQ. 395,775. Patented Jan. 8, 1889.

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llNiTnn STATES PATENT Trice.

FRANCIS JEFFERSON FRENCH, OF MILES GROVE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO .I OI'IN E. KILLIAN, OF SAME ILAOE.

CLOTH ESQ-DRIER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 395,'7'7 5, dated January 8, 1889.

Application leil October 19, 1387. Serial No. 252,831. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS JEFFERSON FRENCH, a citizen ot' the United States, residing at Miles Grove, in the county of Erie and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Olothes-Driers, of which the following is a specication.

My invention relates to improvements in clothes-driers; and it consists in a certain io novel construction and arrangement oi' parts, fully set :l'orth hereinafter, and specifically pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein similar letters o'l' reference denote corresponding parts in all the figures, Figure l. is a perspective view of the device. Fig. 2 is a side view of thesame, showing in dotted lines the pivoted supporting-frame locked in the vertical position. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective zo view of the sliding` head having the lateral arms attached thereto. Fig. 4 is a similar view of the pivoted supporting-frame. Fig. 5`is a detail view of another form of supporting-rod.

2 5 Referring by letter to the drawings, A designates the supporting-rod of the device,which is secured at the upper and lower ends in aligned Openings in the brackets B B, which may either be secured to the wall directly or 3o may be secured to a wooden bar or strip, O,

which in turn is fastened to the wall.

D designates a guide-rod in the rear oi' the rod A, and also secnredat the ends in the brackets B, the s aid guide-rod D being of 3 5 smaller diameter than the rod A. E designates the sliding head in the form of a tube or barrehwhich embraces the rod A and slides thereon.' This tubular head is provided on the front side with a forwardly-extending 4o horizontal supporting-arm, F, for a purpose to be hereinafter described, and on its rear side the head is provided with the guide-arm *Cijfer-.med with a slot or notch, c, `to receive the guide-rod D and slide thereon. The said 4 5 guide-arm G is provided on the sides with the pins h h, around which are coiled. the upper ends ot the spring II. The said spring is in a single piece, and has its side arms or branches coiledaround the said pins h, as stated, and 5o its central double portion bearing against the inner side Aof the rod A. The supporting-rod A is provided at the upper and lower ends with the notches a and a', respectively, and the said spring H, in bearing against the rear side of the said rod as thehead E is moved up and down, engages in the said notches at the proper points ot' its movement. The upper end of the head E is provided with the laterally-exten ding arms I I, bent outward at the ends, and between the ends of the said arms 6o I I is pivoted a semicircular supporting-frame, K. The said supportiiig-trame comprises the semicircular bar L, having notches l in the upper edge, the transverse rear bar, L', extending across the rear ot the pivoted frame, and the longitudinal bar L2, extending from the center of the transverse bar L to the center of the curved bar L. This longitudinal bar L2 is adapted to rest on the arm F when the frame K is in the horizontal position. 7o

M designates an upright or standard secured to one of the arms I near the end, and having the hook or catch h' pivoted thereto and adapted to engage a stud. or pin, m, on the side of the pivoted supporting-frame K when the latter is in the vertical position, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2.

N designates a small semicircular loop secured to the transverse bar L. The clotheshars O are provided at the rear or inner ends 8o with eyes p to engage the said loop, whereby said bars O are pivotally connected to the supporting-frame K.

The notches in the upper edge of the semicircular bar L are adapted to receive the clothes-bars and hold them in the desired positions, and for this purpose are spaced apart at equal distances around the entire semicircle. The notches m are hunched or grouped together at the front or center of the barL of 9o the supporting-frame. Then the clothes-bars are engaged in the notches l, the device is in condition to receive the clothes to be dried; but when the said clothes-bars or drying-arms are arranged in the notches m they are in the 9 position shown in Fig. 2, and the supportingframe is then raised into the vertical position4 and locked. Then the supporting-frame isI in the latter position, the sliding head E mayl belet down until the spring engages in the roo lower notch, a', as the device will in this position occupy less space. i

P designates a curved spring, which is secured at the ends to the transverse bar L and presses down upon the drying-arms, thus holding them in the notches in which they are placed. To change the said drying-arms from the extended to the folded position the spring is slightly raised, thus allowing the said arms to be disengaged from one set of notches, l, and engage in the other set, m. It will be seen that when the supportin g-f rame is raised into the vertical position the spi-ing P will still hold the drying-arms in the notches m', and thus maintain the device in a compact form. v

The outer ends of the drying-arms are turned or bent slightly upward to prevent the clothes from slipping off the ends, and small balls or knobs are attached to the extremities, which form an ornamental finish to the arms and add greatly to the appearance thereof.

R designates a small bracket, comprising the top S and the open-work front T. An. opening is formed in the said top near the rear edge to receive the supporting-bar A, and thus hold the said bracket in position. This bracket is designed to be disposed near the lower end of the supporting-bar, and the curved open-work front is provided on the lower edge with a series of small hooks, U U, adapted to have small articles such as handkerchiefs-hung thereon to dry. The top 'of the bracket forms a convenient shelf to receive small articles, which it may from time to tin'e be desirable to lay out of the hand when hanging up the clothes on the dryingarms.

This device, as will be readily observed, may be (and is preferably) constructed entirely of metal, either of wrought-iron or castironand wire, and the saine is designed to be bronzed and nickeled to render it very ornamental. When secured to the wall, as before described, it may be let down within reach to hang the clothes on the drying-arins, and then raised until the spring-catch engages in the upper notch, when it will be out of reach and out of the way.

When the device is not in use, the arms are folded together, the supporting -frame is raised and locked in the vertical position, and the rack or drier thus occupies but very little space.

The. center dryingarm is preferably secured rigidly by soldering it in its notch in the supporting-frame, as it will be seen that in whatever position the device is the said arm is always in the same notch.

I do not wish to limit myself strictly to all the details of construction herein described. For instance, I may wish to form the supporting-bar elliptical or angular in section (see Fig. 5) instead of round, as shown in the drawings, and in this case I could dispense with the guide-rod D, the function of which is to prevent the supporting-frame and the sliding head from turning around the supporting-bar. If it were not for this precaution, the dryingarms would be liable to come in contact with the wall to which the device is secu-red,

vends of the guide-rod are also passed through perforations in the brackets, and one end thereof is provided with a head and the other end is threaded to receive a nut. This nut is tightened, and the brackets are thus drawn toward each other and bear tightly against the shoulders on the supporting-bar, thus causing the entire frame to be rigid.

V represents a small detent or stop, which extends rearwardly from the transverse bar L when the supporting-frame is in the horizontal position, and when the frame is raised to the vertical position the detent or stop strikes against the upper side of the supporting-bar F and limits the motion of the frame. Thus the extremities of the dryingarms are prevented from sagging toward the wall and coming in contact with the same, as they would be liable to do if the stop were not provided.

Having thus described my invention, I claiml. In a clothes-drier, the combination of vthe supporting-bar A, having notches a a therein, the sliding head mounted on the said -bar and carrying the drying-arms, and the spring H, mounted on the head and bearing at its free end against the supporting-bar, whereby it engages automatically in thesaid notches therein, substantially as specified.

2. In a clothes-drier, the combination of the supporting-bar A, the sliding head E thereon, having the horizontalarmF and the IOO lateral arms I I, the supporting-frame K, pivoted to the arms I and comprising the curved bar L, having a series of notches in the upper edge, and the transverse bar L and the drying-arms pivoted to the frame K and bearing in the notches in the curved bar L, substantially as speciiied.

3. In a clothes-drier, the combination, with the supporting-bar A, of the head E, sliding thereon, the supporting-frame K, secured to the said head and having the curved bar L, provided in the upper edge with the notches l, equally spaced around the curve, and the notches on', arranged close together at the front of the bar L, and the drying-arms O, pivoted to the supporting-frame and adapted to be held in either the notches Z or m', substantially as specied.

4. In a clothes-drier, the combination, with the supporting-bar A, of the head E, sliding thereon and having the lateral arms I I, the supporting-frame K, pivoted to the said arms I and having the notches l and m', the hook- IIO oted to the supportingeframe and adapted to engage in the notches I and m', Substantially as specified.

5. In a clothes-drier, the combination, with the supporting-bar A, of the sliding head E, having the arm F, and the lateral arms I I, having a hook or catch, M', pivoted thereto, the supporting-frame K, pivoted to the arms I and comprising the semicircular notched bar L, the transverse bar L, having the semicircular loop N and the rearwardly-exten ding detent or stop V, and the longitudinal bar L?, adapted to bear on the horizontal arm l when the frame is in the horizontal position, the stud or pin on on the fra-me K, adapted to be engaged by the hook M', the drying-arms O, having the eyes p p on the rear ends to engage the loop N, the said bars being adapted to rest in the notches in the bar L, and the spring P, bearing on the upper sides ot the drying-arms to hold them in engagement with the notches in the bar L, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

6. In a clothes-drier, the combination ot the vertical supporting-intr A, the vertical guiderod D, adjacent to the supportillg-bar, the sliding head E, having the arm G, provided in the end with a notch to receive the guidebar, and the lateral pins 7L, the supportingframe secured to the said head and carrying the drying-arms, and the spring H, secured to g the pins 7i and adapted to bear against the rear side of the supporting-bar A and engage in notches therein, substantially as specified.

7. In a clothes-drier, the combination of the apertured brackets B B, the supportingbar A, adapted to engage in apertures in the brackets and having shoulders to bear on the brackets, the rod D, passing at the ends through apertures in the brackets and adapted to have a nut screwed on one end to draw the brackets tightly against the shoulders on. the supporting-bar, the head sliding on the bar A and having a guide-arm, G, to engage and slide on the rod D, and the suppo1tingfra1ne secured to the said tube and carrying the drying-arms, substantially as specified.

8. In a clothes-drier, the supporting-bar A, the tubular head E, embracing the barA and sliding thereon, the drying-frame carried by the head E, and the spring I'I, secured to the head and bearing at all times against the bar A, the latter having notches, described, with which notches the spring is adapted to engage, substantially as specied.

In testimony that I-claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto afiiXed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRANCIS JEFFERSON FRENCH. lVitnesses:

CALVIN J. H'INDs,

JOE. F. HARMON. 

